We recently connected with Nickolas Hight and have shared our conversation below.

Nickolas, appreciate you joining us today. Before we talk about all of your success, let’s start with a story of failure. Can you open up about a time when you’ve failed?

With the chaos and excitement of beginning the Start Up journey, you are bound to fail. Tons of times. But man, does it create the best of times and invaluable learning experiences. I have seen many, but not all failures. Some that I think worth while mentioning include: learning the hurdles of cash-flow management and debt cycling, inventory management, procurement, expansion, brand development, partnership, fulfillment, growth strategy. Since beginning No Rivals, I have used failures in each of these avenues to allow me to learn many lessons. As to not ramble, I will point to one particular incident where many of these issues presented themselves, and allowed me to learn many of lessons at once. As a bold, rapidly growing, and “controversial” brand, we took on a huge opportunity for custom production for a large organization. At the time, our custom system was done through email and excel, and was by no means perfect. Out of fear of failing to deliver on time, my partner and I got the jump on production and missed several check-points that we usually followed to keep us in line. Because of this – we received THOUSANDS of units that were manufactured incorrectly. This issue presented several cascading problems. We were cash sensitive, short on time, holding a huge opportunity, and staring at the possibility that we were going to tarnish our name in front of these partners. So, what did we do? A lesson to take from what I am about to say is, failures are inevitable and transparency is appreciated. In response to our own panic and errors, we contacted our partners, re-ran and entire line of products (at no cost to the customer), shifted production and delivery schedules, and held our breath in hopes that it would all work out. In the end, it did. It was costly, terrifying, and frustrating, but it is with every loss and success that I am able to be where I am today, and it is the reason that I am confident No Rivals will continue to grow in the vast landscape of apparel, because of our obsession with growth and drive to improve – but never at the cost of others.

Awesome – so before we get into the rest of our questions, can you briefly introduce yourself to our readers.

My name is Nick Hight and I am the co-founder and CEO of No Rivals. With fear of turning this into a novel, I ended up where I am today because of the collective efforts of many mentors and many experiences that I took head on with the desire to learn. In my final year of undergraduate studies, I worked as a personal trainer, then as a technology partner executive for a company that opened my eyes to the world of E-Commerce. These roles both provided me lessons and outlets that I hold to be largely valuable for who I am today. Personal Training enforced upon me the value of discipline and the value of sacrifice for others (along with the importance of showing up every day). My time in E-commerce nursed my fascination for speed, growth, and success of companies and how to achieve those things (in more than one way). My role in E-commerce/SaaS led me into the world of Digital Marketing, and from there back into sales. I dove into No Rivals with a desire to create something and use the lessons and interests of my previous endeavors to direct me on the start of my journey. The inception of No Rivals began as a mission to make some cool hats and fill a niche gap in a market ran by titans, but it has transformed with each day as the desire to impact others, innovate, and do cool things grows. As I write today, I know what separates No Rivals is the initiative of the many people who have helped get us here and the obsession with performing to the highest standard. I am most proud of that very thing, that today No Rivals stands as a collective testament to the many faces who have been a part of our growth, to the late nights packing hats in a garage, and to doing something great, despite the unavoidable adversity.

Can you open up about how you funded your business?

We were bootstrapped to the core. My partner and I used funds from our savings and made a dash to scale as effectively and efficiently as possible. I am of the belief that money is a tool, and having more of it doesn’t solve your problems if you have no idea what you’re doing with it. For those of you that may be reading this that are interested in starting your own entrepreneurial adventure, there is no perfect time, no one right way, and no “null-risk” things in this world. Make a plan, set ambitious goals, don’t run into the fire blind, and show up every single day.

Any advice for managing a team?

People matter. There are a little over 8-billion people on earth, but they are a precious commodity. When building a team, we have made a point to get to know those who help us and understand what we are bringing them in for and how they can best be an asset to the team. I do not know everything, and I am certainly not the perfect leader, but I firmly believe leading with confidence, connecting with those who are there to support the mission, and being true in your mission as an organization are going to lead you to more good days than bad. When those bad days do come around, and they will, having healthy ways to cope and reset will be paramount. I believe that morale must start from the top. In having a community to anchor you and an ability to assess and redirect with a plan when the bad days come, you will be able to steer the ship to fairer seas.

Contact Info:

• Website: https://shopnorivals.com/?srsltid=AfmBOoqB7wxkZs-0UjbADnCqrOhsnKcLFf3ESuMdNr-9vOn70HNkjcbP
• Instagram: @no.rivals.brand
• Facebook: no.rivals.brand
• Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/nickolashight/
• Twitter: @NoRivals_Brand